Tea Light: Mammoth Coffee Company

This month's Tea Light features Mammoth Coffee Company, a boutique specialty coffee roaster based in New Orleans. We've partnered with Mammoth for 2 years and have cherished every moment.

Mammoth's commitment to sourcing exceptional varietal coffee aligns seamlessly with Spirit Tea, and their diverse tea menu is a great example of the variety they offer at the cafe, making our collaboration truly special.

Do you find ways in which Spirit aligns with the heart of Mammoth Espresso?

My personal interest in tea grew from what I saw as an incongruence in the specialty coffee industry. Whereas, we talk about the careful preparation of coffee and being a positive and respectful partner in the greater landscape of coffee, very little attention to those aspects have seeped through in our appreciation and preparation of tea. How are we impacting farming communities? Are we being good stewards of the environment? Are we appropriately honoring the history and culture surrounding tea? These questions and many others shape Mammoth’s tea program, and we’re proud to work with Spirit because we have a total alignment of values.

How does your community enjoy tea in your space?

I believe tea should be intentional, so we take care to dial in our tea recipes, brew everything to completion on the counter and seek to spark curiosity among our staff and our guests. Over the years that approach has also allowed us to cultivate a community of tea drinkers who want to explore the range of flavors and styles in an accessible and intentional way. We offer multiple infusions to our guests when they purchase a tea, incentivizing them to linger and enjoy the full experience that tea can offer.

What is the inspiration/process behind Mammoth Espresso's tea selection?

Our tea menu changes frequently, but the approach is always the same. We select teas that provide a range of experiences. So we’ll look at a floral-forward Dancong and offer that alongside an Oolong with a bit of roast or heft from Fujian. Or we’ll balance a black tea with a pronounced fruitiness with a Japanese sencha with savory notes of seaweed and roast chicken. I try to encourage exploration, because I find it keeps not only our guests engaged, but our staff as well.

How do you see the future of tea evolving at Mammoth Espresso?

Before the pandemic, I hosted a free public tea tasting every Wednesday. It was a joy to cultivate interesting experiences and to learn alongside our tea community. I used it as a platform to serve up learning opportunities that may otherwise take years to acquire. In some form I’d like to bring that back, and have regular and intentional moments to explore the world of tea.